


The Path Travelled

by Delphi



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Drama, Family, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2009-05-08
Updated: 2009-05-08
Packaged: 2017-10-05 20:19:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 198
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/45683
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Delphi/pseuds/Delphi
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Iroh has a visitor in Ba Sing Se once a season.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Path Travelled

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Thistle_Chaser](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=Thistle_Chaser).



His nephew comes faithfully to Ba Sing Se once a season, for the longest day and the shortest, for the flowering of the fruit blossoms and the dying of the leaves. There are other visits on occasion—spurred by the Avatar or with a reluctant Mai in tow—but four times a year, Fire Lord Zuko turns up alone on the back doorstep of his shop wearing Earth Kingdom clothing, and Iroh welcomes him with a happy heart.

Sometimes there is pacing, angry and anxious. Complaints about stubborn generals or scheming politicians. Other times, Zuko barely stays awake through dinner, and Iroh makes up a bed where his nephew sleeps like stone for a night and a day. Sometimes they spar, and sometimes they walk through the city, and sometimes they sit in companionable silence.

He often imagines what it would be like if Zuko could stay for good, but he knows it is not to be. So he makes him tea: black for fortitude and dragon's for wisdom, green for patience and white for optimism. And he laments that not every man's path is generous enough to lead to a humble teashop in lieu of a throne.

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [The Way Home](https://archiveofourown.org/works/193752) by [terajk](https://archiveofourown.org/users/terajk/pseuds/terajk)
  * [A Journey of A Thousand Miles (Return of the Dragon Remix)](https://archiveofourown.org/works/384395) by [MidniteMarauder](https://archiveofourown.org/users/MidniteMarauder/pseuds/MidniteMarauder)




End file.
